Summer After High School

34

I gotta admit. I'm in shock, she doesn't look like one to say much at once.

"What do you say Paige? You might end up making some new friends, " Mr. Chucky says.

New friends? I don't think so. I talk to people yeah but the word friend, is something huge to me.

"Excuse me for a few minutes, " I say.

Then I text Brenda, telling her the situation I'm in and asking her what to do. I'm so glad that girl is in my life.
She responds, telling me it's okay to go yet asking me to be careful and demanding I put her number on speed dial so if anything goes wrong, I'd reach her quickly.

Yeah , that's Brenda for you. I couldn't ask for a better best friend. I add her number and my parents to my speed dial just incase, you know.

"Alright Tammy, I'm coming with you" I say.

I sit in the back of the car with Tammy and she keeps going on about
how her dad is always busy with work, how nice her nanny is, how much she has missed shopping with her dad, her future college goals.
She keeps talking like she's been holding it all in for too long and finally she has someone to listen to them.

"So what about you?" she asks.

I gulp. I don't want to tell her anything about me, she's a stranger.

A stranger really? You're gonna use that excuse. Kyle was a stranger yet you confided in him.

"Shut up, " I tell the voice in my head.

"Huh? " she asks.

Uh oh. This isn't going well. Now what's she gonna think of me?

"Sorry. I wasn't talking to you, I just.. "
I don't understand why words betray me when I need them.

"It's okay, sometimes I talk to myself too, " she says.

"We're here," Mr. Wilson says as he parks his car in a garage.

One look at his house confirms that Mr. Wilson Is a billionaire.

"I'll get the things we bought, you go In with Tammy ," Mr. Wilson says.

She smiles and says " I love you, dad. "

"Love you more, princess, " he replies.

I used to be close to dad the way they seem to be close to each other.

Tammy opens the door and I follow her.

"Brian. is Kyle here already? And guess what? I think I found us a new friend. "

Brian? Kyle?
It's a really weird coincidence that she knows people answering that name too.

"Nanny, someone's joining us for lunch," Tammy says as she heads for the dining.

I walk around the living room and gaze at the pictures on the wall. I focus on the one with a little girl in a graduation gown intensely. She's smiling, in a way that shows all her teeth, a happy young man stands by her left as well as a happy young woman. They look extremely happy.

"That's me , dad and mum, " she says.

I didn't know she was watching me watch the pictures.

"You guy looked very happy ," I say.

"We were. Sometimes I wish she were still here. I wish I could see her always not only when I visit the grave yard. I wish she didn't have to die. "

"Tammy , I am so sorry, " I say, with genuine concern.

"I'm fine, trying to be happy again. Things haven't been the same since then. I just don't have the desire to do most things I have passion for anymore. "

"Tammy, I can Imagine how sad it feels to lose a parent. I almost lost my dad a few days ago, I recall the pain I felt when I thought he was gone. Tammy it's okay to grief but I don't think your mum will like you lacking passion for things you were once passionate about. "

"it's not that easy, most of those things, she used to do them with me. It's not that easy to do them again knowing she's not here, " she says, trying to stop her voice from breaking.

I place my hands on her shoulders," I know it's not easy. But you have to try, at least for your mum. I know she'll love to see you happy again, like the girl in this portrait, " I say pointing to the picture.

"I miss that girl too, " she says.

I clean the tears that rolls down her eyes, "You can be her again, " I say.

She nods, "I'll try. Sorry for being emotional. "

I smile," Don't apologize. "

She smiles too, " Gotta go check on my nanny. You can keep yourself busy with the photo album on the table. "

She leaves before I get the chance to tell that I'm not having lunch with them.

I pick up the photo album and start going through Tammy's baby photos. She looks just like her mum. I see another picture of the happy family again and I ache for her. I wish things like this didn't happen, that bad moments don't creep in to destroy happy ones. The next photo I see fills me with a sense of familiarity. Little Tammy is with a little boy, brown hair, brown eyes, that smile, the resemblance is striking. I bring the photo closer to my face and I shake my head, it can't be. I look away from the photo and standing there on the staircase, staring at me is him.

His eyes are widened just like mine. This doesn't make any sense. Brian can't be here.

I close my eyes and when I open them the front door opens and Mr. Wilson walks in. Someone walks in behind him.

"Kyle! You're here! Welcome!" Tammy says giving him a brief hug.

His gaze is fixed on me. What's happening? None of this makes sense. I feel hot all over. I stand up and head for the sink In the dining to pour water on my face.

'Brian? Is Kyle here already? ' Those words start making little sense. She knows them both. Is she any of their girlfriends? Calm down, Paige, gain composure. It's a small world, she probably just knows the both of them. You can handle it.

When I turn back all the composure I've built disappears. I don't understand why my mum is  sharing the food on the dining table, I don't understand why Tammy is calling her Nanny. None of this makes sense.